Chocolate Peppermint Cake Roll

Chocolate Peppermint Cake Roll with a cream cheese peppermint filling and chocolate ganache on top. A beautiful, festive dessert for the holidays!

I’m so happy to see how many of you loved my tips for making the EASIEST Pumpkin roll. I’ve loved all of the photos you’ve shared of your roll and the nice comments you’ve left on Pinterest.

So for all of you cake roll fans, here is another holiday favorite you can enjoy this Christmas: Chocolate Peppermint Cake Roll.

A delicious chocolate sheet cake, rolled up with peppermint cream cheese frosting in the center, and covered in chocolate ganache. This cake roll is heavenly! It’s perfect for wow-ing guests and beautiful for celebrating this special time of year.

Lots of people avoid making cake rolls because so many recipes have you invert the baked cake onto a large towel dusted with powdered sugar. The whole process seems messy and tricky. Fear not! This method is the easiest, fuss-free way to do it!

Bake, allow it to cool for 1 minute in the pan, and then lift the parchment paper and cake onto your counter to quickly roll the hot cake up inside the parchment paper. Let it cool on top of a wire cooling rack, and then in the fridge.

Roll it back up, this time without the parchment paper. Don’t worry if it’s not pretty to look at yet. The chocolate ganache will cover up any imperfections!

Refrigerate it again for an hour. Pour chocolate ganache over the top. ENJOY!

Tips for making a perfect chocolate cake roll:

Make sure the cake is well cooked, before rolling it up. If it’s undercooked at all, it will be too sticky to release from the parchment paper.

When removing it from the oven, allow it to cool for just 60-90 seconds in the pan. Then remove it to the counter and roll it up immediately. I like to give the top of the cake a minute to rest before rolling it up, but you do need to roll it up while the cake is hot from the oven, to prevent cracking.

Allow the rolled up cake to cool completely, on top of a wire cooling rack so that it can cool underneath the roll, to keep it from sweating.

You really can NOT cut corners on allowing this cake time in the fridge (both after the initial rolling, after it’s filled with frosting, and after adding the ganache). If you try and unroll-it too soon, frost it too soon, or serve it too soon, it may be messy.

There are several ways to make this cake ahead! See my notes at the bottom of the recipe.

Bake 14 to 16 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly in center and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Allow cake to cool in the pan for ONE minute.

Lift the parchment paper and hot cake out of the pan and onto a flat (heat-safe) surface. Immediately, while the cake is hot, starting at one of the short ends, use your hands to gently and slowly roll the cake (and parchment paper!) all the way up.

Allow the rolled up cake to cool completely, on top of a wire cooling rack. (Setting it on a wire rack allows it to cool underneath the roll, and keeps the cake from sweating).

Transfer to the fridge to cool for an additional 30 minutes.

While the cake roll is cooling in the fridge, mix the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and peppermint extract together with an electric mixer until fluffy and smooth.

Gently stir in desired amount of crushed peppermint candies, to taste. Save a handful for sprinkling on the ganache, at the end, if desired.

Once the cake roll is cooled completely, unroll it very carefully. Gently smooth the filling in an even layer over the cake.

Roll up the cake, without the parchment paper. (If you see it start to stick at all to the paper you can use a butter knife gently scrape along the bottom edge of the cake as you roll it up, to help release it.)

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

For the Ganache:

Heat heavy cream in a saucepan until hot. Pour over chocolate and stir continuously until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

Allow the ganache to cool for several minutes to give it time to thicken up a little.

Gently spoon/pour the chocolate ganache over the top of the peppermint roll. Sprinkle additional chopped peppermint candy on top, if desired.

Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Store in the fridge, covered, for up to three days.

Recipe Notes

Make ahead instructions: The cake roll can be prepared completely and refrigerated for 1-2 days before serving. OR, you can bake the cake, roll it in the parchment paper to cool. Once cool, refrigerate it (rolled in the parchment paper) for up to 1 day, before filling and adding the ganache. To freeze: Prepare the cake roll completely, with the filling but do not add the ganache. Freeze for up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before adding the ganache and then slicing and serving.

Comments

Just made your Chocolate Peppermint Roll. It turned out beautifully and I hope it tastes as good as it looks. I’m sending it with my husband for his holiday office party so I won’t get to sample it ? I do have one question. The cake recipe calls for 1/4 cup of powdered sugar but I don’t see in the directions for the batter where it is added. I found it left over on my counter after I had put the cake in the oven. Did I miss something?

So happy to hear it turned out great! I hope everyone at your husband’s work loves it! (And I hope he saves you a piece!) Thanks for noticing that–I removed it from the recipe. I had it in there originally to dust the parchment paper with, instead of flour. But it’s not necessary.

I’m not sure what happened. I made it exactly as listed and when I unrolled it after cooling it on the wire rack until room temp and then the fridge for 5 hours it cracked and basically broke in 4 separate pieces. I did piece it back together and it tastes really good. Any tips for next time?